


The Competitive Spirit

by ACompleteNonEntity



Category: Bleach
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Friendship, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 19:09:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19752001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACompleteNonEntity/pseuds/ACompleteNonEntity
Summary: Life has always been a competition for Renji and Rukia, whether it was between them or the world.A series of drabbles and not-quite drabbles exploring the competitive nature of Renji and Rukia's relationship at different points in their life.





	1. The Rules and the Players

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic was originally intended to be one or two really short drabbles to pull myself out of a period of art block but then I got carried away on a few of them. I'm still pretty much a noob when it comes to writing, so any constructive criticism is welcome.
> 
> Some of these chapters will be scenes from the manga but written in my interpretation of them. I won't be writing the chapters chronologically, though I will be arranging them in chronological order. In the future, I'll be posting art for some chapters as well.
> 
> Hope you guys like it! If you'd like to check out my art, my tumblr is at <https://acompletenonentity.tumblr.com>

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inuzuri is a hard place, with even harder people.

For most of his young life, Renji had thought of survival as something akin to a game of futsal. 

The rules and roles differed obviously, but the underlying principle was the same- you either won or you lost, there was no in-between. A simple thing to keep in mind, yet terribly difficult to actually live by.

* * *

Even in a lawless place like Inuzuri, there were many rules. Rules on how to conduct yourself, rules about the places you could go, rules about who you could talk to. Breaking even a minor one could be enough to send someone on an express trip back to the Living World (and a few did exactly that, not that Renji would blame them) so knowledge of these rules was just as important as actually abiding by them.

The first rule Renji learned was to find a group to stick to. Anyone stupid enough to go at it alone was swiftly mugged, beaten up, or worse. A group meant safety, resources, and a common goal to work towards. The latter was particularly important to have so as not to fall into despair, which was never in short supply at Inuzuri. It had taken him two attempted robberies and one thorough thrashing for him to realize this.

The second one was to not piss off anyone stronger than you. A good word spoken about you by the right people could get you access to certain sellers, discounts on supplies, and help when you most needed it. A bad word whispered about you, well, it would only be a matter of time before something happened. The ability to sway people to your side was an added bonus and Renji found that he had some talent in this area while he was working as an errand boy for a mid-level drug pusher. People seemed to be drawn to him for some unfathomable reason, but hey, he wasn't complaining. His list of contacts was always ever expanding.

The third rule was to never trust the authorities to do their jobs right. Most public officials had been bought and paid for by the gangs to look one way or the other. Occasionally one of them would be discovered as a double agent and his or her corpse would be found hanging from a tree as a warning. However, that still didn't mean that one shouldn't be discreet. The one thing that you never wanted to do was to attract the attention of the shinigami. Whenever they showed up, clad in their black uniforms and paralyzing those around them with an intense physical pressure, Renji knew whoever it is they were hunting- be it gang leader or lowly grunt- was a dead man walking.

The fourth rule was the one that was the hardest to follow: never get too attached to something or someone. At first glance, it sounded contradictory to the first two rules. Bonds were going to be formed no matter what, especially when everyone was going through the same shitty situation. That was all well and good but for the tacit agreement between mostly everyone to only look out for each other up to a certain point. Altruism was something undeniably virtuous but if you ended up dead because of it, it just became like anything else that could kill you- and each inhabitant of the highest levels of the Rukongai was well aware of the tenuous thread by which their lives dangled on.

Renji had learned this rule the hard way with Hideo, the leader of the second group he'd joined.

The two of them had formed a fast and easy friendship from the moment they'd met. Hideo seemed the type of person who was too good to live in a place full of human refuse like Inuzuri. Renji had practically worshiped the older boy as Hideo was everything he’d wanted to be: strong, tough, savvy as hell, and someone who commanded but never demanded respect. Under his leadership, he’d felt a complete sense of safety and security for the first time in his life. There wasn't anything Hideo couldn't do as far as Renji was concerned. Life in Inuzuri even felt _good_ whenever he was around.

It had been a routine sort of day when it had all happened. Hideo had been going over their supplies when he’d noticed that a few were missing. A quick investigation later had determined that the thief was someone who had been assigned to guard their stash. All possible suspects were marched out and questioned. Nobutsuna, Hideo’s second-in-command, was just about to interrogate the third row when one of the suspects from the fifth row had tried to make a break for it. Hideo and Nobutsuna had both given chase, with Nobutsuna being the first to grab the thief. However, unbeknownst to him, tucked away in the thief’s obi and ready to be used was a five-inch shiv.

Hideo had noticed it before Nobutsuna did. He'd pushed Nobu out of the way and even managed to dodge the thief’s first two lunges. What he never saw coming was the second shiv that the thief had hidden up his left sleeve.

The thief had run off before anyone had recovered from the shock. As he watched his friend lying in the dirt, bleeding to death, Renji felt gutted in a way that he hadn't felt before. What had started as a simple mystery had turned into something he could barely comprehend. Hideo was not supposed to die from something as unremarkable as this. Here was someone who had all the means of surviving in Inuzuri and he was cut down like chaff in less than a minute. And for what? Two loaves of bread and four bags of rice? A second-in-command who later, wracked with guilt, decided to take his own life the very next week?

That night, as Renji kept vigil over the body, he’d resolved to never be so naive again.

Soon after Hideo’s death, the group had splintered off into pieces. Without a leader to bring them together or protect them, there was no use in staying. Renji had taken his three other closest friends- Fujimaru, Kosaburou, and Mameji- and started his own group.

* * *

So when Rukia literally barged into his life one sweltering summer day, Renji hadn’t thought much of it at first. With Hideo’s death still fresh in his mind, he was wary of anybody he was not already familiar with. Sure, Rukia had saved him and his friends from a sticky situation with that robber but she was just another mouth to feed. She was also a girl and girls made guys do weird things to get their attention. Her presence could also potentially ruin the dynamic of his small group, which made her a threat.

He didn't think she'd stick around for long too. If Inuzuri was hard on children, it was doubly so for girls. The men were like beasts around here- anything and anyone that could give them a power trip was something to be exploited. Some girls got lucky enough to become a concubine or mistress to men from the lower level districts. Most of them wound up as prostitutes. 

But Rukia stayed. And stayed. And then stayed some more. Everything revolved around her for awhile, just as Renji had feared. Fujimaru, Kosaburou, and Mameji had all taken to her quite quickly and sometimes the four of them would go out and do things together while Renji stewed alone in anger at their hideout.

It didn’t help things that she was unlike any other girl he’d encountered before. Rukia was bossy and spoke like the meanest drunk at the seediest dive bar. Blunt as a fist to the face, she didn't care whether you took offense or not. Worst of all, Rukia possessed the same spiritual powers that Renji had and controlled it far better than he did. She was a consummate show-off about it too. One of her favorite pastimes was summoning a ball of spirit energy in front of their other friends while glancing pointedly at him. The three knuckleheads would then of course fawn over her as if she'd personally kissed each one of them on the ass. Afterwards, when Renji would berate them for being so mushy and gross over a _girl_ of all things, Rukia would make a vomit-inducing show of comforting them. It was just so, _so_ frustrating.

The weeks that Rukia spent with them soon turned into months and their relationship only became more competitive. They constantly traded insults, bragged to each other about the loot they’d scored, and fought over the pettiest little things. There were even times when one of them would leave in a fit of rage only to be coaxed back by the others’ pleading. Renji didn't even know why he’d felt such an urge to one-up her. All he knew was that if he didn’t prove to Rukia that he was just as good or better than her then… well, he didn’t want to think about that.

It wasn't until a year later that Renji started seeing her in a different light. 

He began noticing a certain grace to the way Rukia did things. Like when she'd climb up a tree, there was a fluidity to her movements as she hopped from foothold to foothold. Then there was that prim and proper poise she’d have when she’d managed to reach the topmost branch. Or that practiced way she would kick the cloth ball they used in their futsal games. Even her punches and jabs had an elegant quality to them. At night, when she’d curl up next to him like a cat, Renji was overcome with feelings of… _something_. Not that he’d ever tell her that.

One day they had decided to go to the river to catch some fish. After failing to snare even one with his crude spear, Renji had noticed Rukia off in the distance holding something in her hands. A tangle of chrysanthemums had floated downstream, surrounding her tiny figure with their bright pink petals. She had picked one up to examine it. With the light of the sunset shimmering on the water’s surface all around them, the flowers encircling her as if she were some supernatural being, and the serene manner with which she gazed upon the chrysanthemum in her hands, Rukia had looked almost beautiful.

_Almost_ , Renji hastily told himself. _Almost!_

A tight knot had formed in his chest and Renji shook his head, trying to rid himself of the stupor he’d found himself in. Over the next couple of days, he’d tried his hardest to forget what he’d seen but the image of that fleeting moment had imprinted itself into his memory.

* * *

As the years passed, Renji gradually came to consider everyone in his group as family despite his initial reluctance to do so. They were his own little futsal team, this band of five scrappy orphans. He’d even jokingly given themselves a name: the Inuzuri Hellhounds. Everyone would roll their eyes whenever he’d say it, but nobody bothered to offer a better alternative.

Fujimaru and Mameji were their wingers. Fujimaru had the nimblest fingers, perfect for pickpocketing or lock picking, while Mameji had the sharpest eyes and ears of the group. The two of them were the more flightier ones of the bunch, with Mameji being the crybaby that needed constant reassurance. Renji usually relegated them to tasks that had the least amount of risk to them. That wasn’t to say that they were complete cowards though. They always showed up to a fight even if they were pissing in their pants and even Renji knew that type of loyalty was something precious.

Kosaburou was their defender. He was fat and slow but he was the hardiest one out of all of them. When it came to a fight, Renji trusted him to have his back more than anyone else. He also happened to be the most book-smart in their group. It wasn't uncommon to see him lying around in some cozy place with a pile of scrolls all around him. Kosaburou had no spiritual powers to speak of but he did know a little bit of healing medicine; he’d worked as an apothecary’s assistant before he’d met Renji. Whenever one of them came down with illness or injured themselves, Kosaburou would be the one sitting by their side, tending to their ailments and murmuring words of comfort.

Rukia made an excellent pivot. She was a puny thing, all big eyes and bony limbs. Underneath that frail and innocent exterior though, was one of the most vicious fighters Renji had ever known. What she lacked in brute strength she more than made up for it with her cunning and improvisational skills. Without knowing her personally it was easy to underestimate her and she knew it. Sometimes he would even see her using that advantage to an almost shameless degree. Quite a few of the adults in Inuzuri had a penchant for diddling kids and having Rukia on his side meant that they were usually the best targets to steal from.

Renji himself was the goalkeeper, the one who stopped any and all threats that could fracture their little ragtag group. Or so he’d like to think. In truth, both he and Rukia shared this role. Conversely, it also meant they were the ones keeping them all together. That meant doling out duties, negotiating with the other groups or alliances, planning out raids, making sure they had enough supplies, and being the mediator whenever someone decided to start being dramatic; boring but necessary things like that. However, whenever it came time to defend their territory, he became the vanguard. As the strongest one out of all of them, Renji relished the times when he could get his hands dirty.

Together the five of them made an efficient and cohesive team. Despite his youth and inexperience, Renji knew what he had was a good thing, or as good as anything could be in a shithole like Inuzuri. He was also aware that good things never lasted long because either someone took it from you or you gave it up yourself without knowing its true value. So he never really thought too much about the future because the end to all of this was buried somewhere in that vast unknowable nothingness. If anything, Inuzuri had taught Renji to appreciate what was right in front of him.

And as things stood now, the rules and the players that he'd set up for himself had made things work out alright, if not well, for him. The game was always changing and somehow Renji had managed to adapt to all the twists and turns that life had haphazardly thrown at him. Maybe it was pure luck, maybe it was skill, all that mattered was that he was alive. If he could keep things going the way they were indefinitely, perhaps then could he start thinking about amounting to something more than a stray dog one day.

What Renji never would've expected though, was that he'd become the kind of person that would break his own rules regularly.


	2. Fake Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being left alone is better than having to say good-bye.

Rukia had that look on her face, the one she wore whenever there was bad news: furrowed brow, a slight clench of the jaw, and that thousand-yard stare which had no other interpretation besides _fuck off_. It was a look Renji had seen only a few times and it usually meant that she was trying her hardest to suppress something. It also meant that she was in the mood to say some things that were downright _nasty_. **  
**

As the door slams shut with a finality befitting the news of her death sentence, Rukia shifts in her chair and turns away to face the wall. Like clockwork, a thick cloud of tension descends between them in the wake of Captain Kuchiki’s departure. Renji clears his throat, rummaging around for something to say.

“Hey, don’t be sad, things could change in the time between now and then,” Renji offers as a consolation after a few minutes of silence. He regret his words almost immediately. There was no conviction behind them and they both knew it.

“I'm not… sad,” Rukia replies, her voice low and monotone.

“Don't give me that bullshit, you're obviously upset,” Renji snaps, annoyed that she’d think he was stupid enough to believe that. Getting no response, he kicks at the bars of her holding cell, hoping that the ratchet would be enough to coax a reaction, any reaction, out of her. A pissed-off Rukia was a hundred times more preferable to whatever version of her was currently sitting in front of him.

“Hey! Turn around and look at me when I'm talking to you!” he barks at her, rattling the bars with his fists for good measure.

“You know as well as I do that the ruling came from Central so it won't be overturned.” Rukia’s voice was so quiet that Renji had almost missed it in all the clamor he was making. “But it’s alright, I knew this was going to happen from the beginning. There's no use in trying to fight it.”

Renji falls still when he hears the despair in her voice. Unsure of how to proceed, he tries a different tack. 

“Rukia…”

“Gotcha!”

She turns around suddenly, a shit-eating grin plastered over her face. Renji startles, taking a step back. He narrows his eyes, waiting for the barb that was surely coming his way.

“You'd think I’d be upset about some punishment like the Sokyoku? All it does is make escaping even more interesting!” 

Rukia stands up and walks toward him, her high-pitched voice and light footsteps belying the sudden, intimidating flare of her reiryoku.

“Eh? What’s with that face Renji? You seem awfully concerned about me, but what you should be more concerned about is your eyebrows, Mister Goofy Tattooed Eyebrows Man,” Rukia remarks airily, stroking her chin. A playful smile stretches across her lips but her eyes are cold and steely as they bore into his.

Something seems to snap inside of him.

It already pissed Renji off how blasé she was being towards her impending execution. The Rukia he knew from childhood would never have given up so easily nor been so in denial about it. Perhaps it was the influence of that snot-nosed punk she'd spent time with in the Living World. Or Captain Ukitake and that deceased vice-captain of his that the town gossips had said she’d mooned over. Maybe it was her cushy life as a noble. Whatever it was, she’d gotten soft as a result and being _soft_ was deadly. _Soft_ was unfamiliar. _Soft_ was everything that she, the only living soul he considered family, was the opposite of. After spending decades climbing the social ladder and becoming someone distinguished enough to even _breathe_ in her general proximity, _this_ was who he’d tried to get close to?

He wasn't any better though. For all of the bluster and bravado he’d displayed in front of Rukia ever since her arrest, Renji knew she could see past it, see all his intentions and insecurities. He’d gone and showed her that he actually gave a shit about her life more than she did. To offer forth that type of vulnerability was antithetical to everything he had been taught as a child growing up in an unforgiving world and yet he’d done it despite knowing that it was usually never worth it. And now look where it had gotten him. If there was anything he detested more than weakness, it was sappiness.

“I could care less about you and your troubles,” he spits out with all the venom he can muster. “You can rot in here all you want, I can't _wait_ for your execution.” 

With that being said, Renji storms out of the room, slamming the door behind him. As he pauses outside to steady his churning emotions, he realizes something.

One thing hadn't changed about Rukia after all- her ability to get under his skin.


	3. An Almost Concession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When it came down to it, he would always let her win.

This was it. **  
**

His sword arm hung uselessly at his side, mangled to the point where even the pain had become a dull ache.

He was on his knees, body too exhausted to stand up. The perpetual cycle of injury and recovery he’d put his body through for the last couple of days had finally taken its toll.

His eyesight was beginning to swim, strange little lights darting here and there, back and forth, back and forth…

Despite this dire state of affairs, the only thing Renji could focus on was Rukia’s shallow breathing. She was alive, alive and in his arms, but he didn't know how long he could keep it that way. Ichigo had trusted him to take her somewhere safe and of course Renji had ended right back where he'd started on- Sōkyoku Hill. _Fuck_ , he was _such_ a worthless sack of shit.

“Must I say it again? For the last time, leave Rukia and go.”

Aizen looms above him, an affable smile on his face. A real sociopath, this one. Back when Renji was still in the 5th as a fresh cadet, he'd had an inkling of his true nature. The intuition he'd honed from living in the streets of Inuzuri had told him something was off about the bespectacled captain, and so he’d kept his distance. That instinct had worked out for him apparently, leading Aizen to steer him towards the 11th where danger was far less conniving in the way it carried itself.

Others had not been so fortunate. Momo and Izuru would have never stood a chance against Aizen’s machinations with them being the type of people they were. Both of them were probably dead by now.

And Renji was going to join them soon.

“P-Please Captain Aizen, I’ll-” Rukia, ever the martyr, starts to beg.

“Shut up, Rukia,” Renji interrupts.

“Renji-”

“I told you to shut up, Rukia. I’m not letting you go.” He grips her shoulder even more tightly, thinking back on the day he'd so foolishly given her up. If he going to die in the next few seconds, Renji would at least die knowing the fact that he hadn't made the same mistake twice.

Looking up at Aizen, he flashes his most toothy grin. “I'm not leaving her, you _bastard_ ,” Renji snarls, injecting the last word with all his anger and contempt.

“I see. That’s… unfortunate,” Aizen replies with the nonchalance of one commenting on the weather.

The captain raises his sword, his gentle smile never wavering. Morning sunlight catches on the blade, searing Renji’s vision.

Unwilling to look upon the instrument of his death or its executioner any longer, Renji glances down and sees the look of abject horror on Rukia’s face. They had both bore witness to their friends’ deaths back in Inuzuri and Rukia had always taken it much worse than he did. Sorrow and regret churn in his gut when Renji realizes that his death was going to make her relive it all again.

“I'm sorry, Rukia,” he whispers, clutching her small form closer to his. He feels her hand grasp the front of his kosode in return. Renji closes his eyes and thinks of all the moments they’d shared together, both the good and the bad. Perhaps this wasn't going to be such a terrible death after all, dying next to Rukia. It could even be considered poetic, really. Maybe someone would even write a ballad or two about them after this whole accursed affair was over.

Renji prays to someone, anyone, that the two of them would meet again, even if their reincarnations would have no recollection of their past lives. He waits and waits and waits and waits, each millisecond stretching into a millennia before him. _Goodbye, goodbye_ , his soul seemed to sing forlornly.

_Clang._

The unmistakable ring of steel on steel chimes in the air just as he hears Rukia sob into his chest. A slight breeze kicks up, enveloping the two of them in its tender embrace. Something stirs within him, daring him to hope.

When Renji opens his eyes again, he witnesses a miracle.


	4. Equal Footing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being equal is not the same as feeling equal.

“Okay, so that’s Goro, Lady Chinatsu’s husband and head of the Miyoshis, a minor noble house. He’s been cheating on his wife with his two mistresses in the North Rukongai districts the last time I heard. Also owns a few gambling dens and brothels there as well.”

“Uh huh.” Renji watches the man in question talk to a young female servant. This Goro had probably a hundred Gin Tonbo sunglasses’ worth of jewelry draped around his wobbling neck. His entire body was swathed in yards of gaudy gold brocade decorated with patterns of swimming koi. Everything about him screamed excess.

 _Slimy bastard_ , Renji thinks, nose wrinkling in disgust.

He appraises his own clothing for the second time that night: a drab black kosode and a drab black hakama to match- the standard shinigami uniform. It had been either this or the white kimono with cherry blossoms he liked to wear to sleep. Both looked like beggar’s rags compared to what Goro was wearing. 

“That woman over there is Lady Reiko. She’s been married five times and all her husbands happened to die under suspicious circumstances and leave behind a rather large sum of money for her. I heard from a servant that she used to serve in the Onmitsukido as one of their top agents. Nowadays, she owns and operates the best dango shop in the Seireitei. Most nobles tend to stay away from her, though personally, I do think she’s living the best life out of all us,” Rukia continues on, unaware of the sudden bout of self-consciousness that had overcome Renji.

Not that Rukia would ever have a reason to feel self-conscious here. She was garbed in a simple but gorgeous red kimono embellished with blue and gold flowers. Her hair had been done up for the occasion with an ornate silver hairpin. It was all Renji could do to not gawp at her when she’d first greeted him at the entrance to the Kuchiki estate. He had always thought of Rukia as far more refined-looking than he could ever hope to be but this particular look was on a whole other level.

“Uh huh. Note to self- don't ever marry her,” Renji replies, trying not to stare at Rukia too much.

“Ahh, now this guy… you see that tall man in grey by the bridge over there? That’s Fujihara Ryusuke. Him and Nii-sama _haaaaate_ each other. Apparently he once disrespected my sister at some other gathering by refusing to bow to her. He’s also the combination of every rich people stereotype that you know of rolled into one awful person. Terrible to his servants, sired about twenty children with twelve different concubines, has an ego the size of Jidanbō. To make things worse, he just got appointed to the new Central 46 which is probably the only reason he’s allowed to be here.”

“That’s a comforting thought. A guy like him judging all of us. Things haven't really changed much there, huh?”

The two of them stroll down one of the many paved paths that wound its way through the vast courtyard. The Kuchiki estate was hosting the annual Obon festival this year and from the looks of it, they had spent a small fortune. Lanterns hung from every crevice, emitting a soft glow that gave the impression of thousands of fireflies floating in the air. A pavilion had been constructed at the center of the courtyard that was the size of a regular mansion. Numerous stalls and stages dotted the landscape as far as the eye could see and there was even a parade going on to Renji’s left. The courtyard was so big that it even housed a small river, complete with its own dock and gondolas.

Various groups of nobles lounged about on benches or in pavilions on either side of them. Some gave a polite bow to Rukia as they passed by, which she returned in kind. Renji also noticed several captains and vice-captains walking around, a few nearly unrecognizable in their formal wear. At this hour, most of the festival goers had congregated around the main pavilion to partake in the festivities and their raucous laughter could be heard even from a distance. 

For someone that was so used to the austerity of the Rukongai and 6th division barracks, the sheer amount of wealth on display was almost bordering on the ridiculous. A twinge of guilt worms its way into Renji's gut. The amount of food that was being handed out here could feed all the inhabitants of Inuzuri for several years, but as far as these nobles were concerned, the Rukongai was just an abstract concept.

So it was with some relief when he sees that Rukia has led them to a less extravagant part of the courtyard. They stop for a moment at a bridge overlooking a small but meticulously landscaped koi pond.

“Ahh, it’s much nicer here.” Rukia sighs. “It gets tiring having to bow at everybody. If I didn't bow back to some of these people, they'd probably sic an assassin on me.”

“How do you even know half of those things?” Renji asks, both amazed and terrified at Rukia’s encyclopedic knowledge of the Sereitei’s dirty laundry. A chilling realization dawns on him- maybe Rukia knew his own secrets. There were some that Renji had that he _definitely_ did not want her knowing.

“When you get as bored as I do at these events, you have to make your own entertainment,” she sniffs. “In this case, eavesdropping on people. Or getting information out of them without letting them know that you don't know what they know. It's pretty fun; you should try it.”

“I don't think it'd work with me. You're a Kuchiki, but in their eyes I’m just some scrubby peasant who happens to know how to swing a sword and brain a few Hollows. They’d never tell me that kind of shit.”

Rukia suddenly whips around to face him, a fierce look in her eyes. Renji almost walks into her small, irate figure but manages to sidestep that outcome at the last moment.

“Don't call yourself that. You might be a stupid idiot fool for most of the time I’ve known you but you're a lieutenant now. You have every right to be here. You’ve _earned_ it. If there's anyone here who they don't respect, it's probably me.” Rukia puts her hands on her hips and scowls at him.

“I… Rukia… you know that's not true.” Renji feels the tips of his ears burning. Praise was something that did not often fall from Rukia’s harsh tongue.

“I’m the adopted one, remember? I didn't do anything to get here except bear a resemblance to someone that I never knew and who also lucked her way into the Seireitei. And I’m still an unseated officer in the 13th, so I don't even have that going for me,” she says with a trace of bitterness to her voice

“You shouldn't be in the 13th, Rukia,” Renji replies a little too quickly. “With your eavesdropping skills, Soi-Fon would cream her pants to have you in the 2nd.”

“Hah, right, with Yoruichi back I doubt she'd have any left for me. And quit trying to change the subject, I know what you're up to.” Rukia kicks his left foot lightly with one delicately embroidered sandal.

“Alright, alright. You got me there.” Renji chuckles at her crudeness. That was one thing that hadn’t dulled in their decades-long separation.

_Their separation._

He groans inwardly. Rukia was right- he really should stop being an idiot and make the most out of this situation already. Renji had already made the mistake of thinking that he had all the time in the world to spend with her and he was dead set on not making that same mistake again.

Clapping his hands on her shoulders, Renji lets out a deep breath before continuing to speak.

“Fine, you know what I think about all this? I think that some of these people are just as terrible as the people back in Inuzuri. They just happen to be dressed better. And own more things. You’ve been through more deep shit than they ever will in a hundred lifetimes and yet you still managed to come out on top. You don't have have to prove anything to them and I think you already know that. Isn't that why you're telling me all this stuff in the first place?”

Rukia cocks her head and looks at him, a curious expression on her face.

“What?” Renji asks. “I'm right, aren't I?” He grins wolfishly at her.

Rukia scoffs and glances off to the side for a moment. She mutters something indistinguishable.

“What? I can’t hear you, Rukia.”

“I _said_ , like you're one to talk, hypocrite. Don't you have some dumb competition going on with my brother? Ichigo said something about you training every day to beat him when I left the Academy. He also said you got on your knees and begged-”

“S-Shut up, idiot! That’s different. Taichou is-”

“I am what, exactly, Lieutenant Abarai?” a deep voice calls out from their right side.

Renji almost faints from shock as Byakuya seemingly materializes out of nowhere, trailed by his personal attendant and adviser. Quickly, he takes his hands off Rukia’s shoulders before they could be forcibly detached by more violent means.

The captain was dressed in a kimono made of navy blue silk and a black hakama that was magnificently adorned with gold motifs. A new scarf was wrapped around his neck, this one somehow even whiter than the last one. His attire was certainly not the flashiest Renji had seen here (Goro’s was the clear winner in that particular area) but it did look the most expensive out of all them. The same could be said of almost everything in the Kuchiki estate, really.

“Nii-sama!” Rukia exclaims cheerfully, either oblivious to or willfully ignorant of the tension that was steadily growing between Renji and her brother.

“Rukia.” Byakuya nods in her direction. He looks at Renji again. “Well, Lieutenant, what did you want to say about me?”

“O-Oh, uh, I was just about to say that without your example to guide us I wouldn't have gotten as far as I did in the Gotei 13. Sir.” Renji hopes he didn't sound too much like an asskisser, even if what he had said was true.

“Is that so? Then I presume that you already know that your behavior here reflects on all of us at the 6th division and that putting your hands on my sister and insulting her is not a good place to start.”

“Yes, sir. I won’t do it again.” _Dammit_ , Renji panics, _how much of our conversation did he overhear? And how did he even_ find _us?_

“Rukia, since Lieutenant Abarai is your guest, please make sure he isn’t being bothersome to you or any other guests. If he intends to be unruly, eject him from the premises as you so wish. I have other matters that I must attend to for now, so I leave him in your hands.”

“Of course, Nii-sama.” Rukia gives a little bow. Both of them watch silently as Byakuya and his entourage vanish as quickly as they had appeared next to them. It was unnerving how stealthily they moved. Renji was starting to think that Rukia had picked up a lot more things than just her surname from her brother.

He hadn't realized that his hands were fidgeting with the hems of his sleeves until Rukia motions at him to follow her. Renji wipes his sweaty palms on his hakama as he catches up to his friend.

“Has he always been so hard on you?” Rukia asks him, looking over her shoulder.

“More or less, yeah. I've gotten used to it. I think.”

“You might not think it, but Nii-sama hates these kinds of parties too. He’s usually in a bad mood when they're over.”

“What?! Really? _Him_?”

“No, I meant the other brother that I've secretly had all these years without telling you. Of course I mean him, you dolt.”

“But he’s like, the most noblest out of all these nobles. Or whatever the word for that is. You know what I mean. You’d think he'd love schmoozing with other people like him.”

“You forget that he married a commoner, Renji. These people here would rather him marry his own cousin than be with a Rukon woman with no discernible talent or wealth to her name. Several guests here have done exactly that, actually.”

“That’s pretty gross. Nobles are a weird lot.”

“Yeah, and it’s all for money. Got to keep everything within the family or your social standing here. You could say that most nobles didn't take kindly to Nii-sama marrying Hisana. The other branches of my… family even tried to block every attempt he made at getting registered for marriage. It wasn't until his parents stepped in to override them that he finally did. To this day, Nii-sama still holds a grudge against the branch families and anyone who thinks like them. He may act like the noblest of all nobles, as you put it, but he doesn't share all their beliefs.”

“Huh. I wonder what made Hisana so special that he’d go through all that just to be with her. Your sister must’ve been something else to get through to him, let alone make him break his precious laws and customs,” Renji muses.

It was strange to hear that the captain was a romantic when it came to marriage. The most affectionate he’d ever seen his boss act towards something or someone was when he'd seen Byakuya smile at a mountain of incomplete paperwork that he’d just given to Renji to finish on his own. Even then, he had just barely perceived Byakuya’s lips twitching upwards.

“I don't know, Renji. You tell me.” Rukia turns towards him, smiling in a way that he hadn't seen before. Suddenly Renji wasn't sure who they were talking about anymore.

“Er…” he swallows thickly. “Maybe they… uh… bonded over their shared interest in filing paperwork?” Renji tugs at his headband, trying to dab at the sweat that had collected at his brow. The way she was looking at him was just a little _too_ smug for his liking.

“I didn't mean it that way.”

“Uhhh… what do you mean then?”

“Nevermind. Still dense as ever, Renji.” Rukia looks down and sighs. 

“Hey, you know you miss me and my denseness.”

“I suppose. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. It does get lonely judging rich people all by yourself at fancy parties.”

“I’ll take that. Don't think I can get anything better than that, anyways.”

Rukia laughs. It's a wonderful sound that Renji doesn't think he hears often enough, and he finds himself laughing along with her. After seeing her so despondent in her cell during the ryoka invasion, it was nice to see her enjoying herself again.

“You might be surprised, Renji. Come, let me give you a master class in eavesdropping on unsuspecting nobles. You might even learn a few interesting things that you can tell your drinking buddies later.” Rukia tugs his sleeve towards the direction of a pavilion where a group of nobles sat, drinking tea.

“Uh… okay. Just don’t get me into trouble. Your brother would have a fit.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll cover for you. Just like old times, right?” Rukia swats his right arm playfully.

“Yeah. Sure. Like old times.”

“Alright then, let's go!” Rukia grabs him by the wrist and for the umpteenth time in his life, Renji allows himself to be pulled into whichever direction Rukia happened to be.


End file.
